Do you often get caught up in an activity that you enjoy? With the rise of technology and social media, hobbies have become overlooked, as we spend time on our electronics or in front of the TV instead of picking up a hobby.

Hobbies likely take up a decent portion of your life. Some popular activities are cooking, doing crafts, a sport or going to the gym. Hobbies are things you enjoy that you spend a decent amount of your life doing. Maybe your group of close friends all share the same hobbies as you, or maybe they have entirely different ones. These activities are a great way to connect with a community, relax or keep yourself busy.

Usually, our hobbies are things we were not good at when we began doing them. What makes them enjoyable can be what we derive from them. For example, you might enjoy baking because you have a sweet tooth. People who enjoy working out enjoy feeling refreshed and energized after a workout. Sometimes you grow to enjoy an activity that you were forced to do, and then it becomes your hobby. I was forced to write many essays in school before I realized that if I had creative freedom over a paper, I actually enjoyed it. 

Sometimes, our hobbies become our idols. When we start spending more and more time doing an activity, it can easily take up time and attention that we should be giving to the Lord.

There are many ways to honor God with your hobbies. After all, God is the one who blessed you with those gifts and passions. 

Stewarding Your Gifts

To use your hobby in a God honoring way, you must check your heart. If your heart is in a hobby for the wrong reason, God sees that. But God also sees if you are doing a hobby for His glory. For example, if one of my friends became a painter, and suddenly I picked up painting too, all in hopes of being better at it than they are, that is not honoring God. But maybe I want to start painting to paint a picture for a foster home. That is honoring my God-given gift!

Valuing God Most

Hobbies become dangerous to your faith journey when you start to spend more time doing them than spending time with God. Getting better and better at an activity makes it easier to put your identity in it. Imagine how God feels when He gifts us with talents, and then we care more about them than about Him.

Utilize The Opportunity

If your hobby involves a community, such as a neighborhood tennis team, you can use this as an opportunity to share the gospel. Tell them about Jesus, share your faith and inspire them by the way you carry yourself and the way you live. If you are invested in the gym, consider sharing with someone there that Jesus loves them and telling them about Him. There are always opportunities to share the good news, and when you share a hobby with someone, you already have something in common. Perhaps a Godly friendship can form!

If there is an activity in your life that you are deeply invested in, it might be slowly becoming an idol in your life, or it may already have become one. We should have no other Gods than Him. Everything we do should be a reflection of Him. Even though we are sinful creatures, we are made in His image and every breath we take represents a thoughtful creator.

Ask yourself these questions to evaluate your hobbies:

• Do I do this because I enjoy it, or because I enjoy pleasing God through my talents?
• Am I hiding an idol in my life behind the word “hobby?"
• How can I better steward my gifts for the glory of God?

If you feel a calling from God to pursue your education, Grand Canyon University strives to honor the gifts God has given you by paving a path towards your career goals. In your prayers today, thank God for the gifts He has given you and ask Him for help in using those gifts to complete His will for your life. When we share His love through our work and passions, we help make the kingdom of heaven a little more crowded.